Robot Odyssey

Make this Thanksgiving one to remember by filling it with robots! Learn about the incredible exploration of the outer planets by the robotic spacecraft Voyager, Cassini and New Horizons, then experience demonstrations of the types of volcanism they discovered on the outer planet ice moons of Saturn and Neptune and the remarkable glaciers of Pluto. Discover how Japanese and American robotic spacecraft have and will sample the surface of asteroids and then return specimens to Earth! See and handle meteorites like those being sampled and make a take-away model of asteroid Eros, visited by the NEAR Shoemaker space probe in 1998!

Take a trip through pop culture history as you meet robots in the movies and related art forms. This 25-minute presentation will introduce you to a host of robotic favorites from Robbie the Robot to R2D2 and beyond. Did you know that the very word “robot” was created for a stage play? Meet movie-bots from the lovable to the sinister and explore how they reflect our society’s thoughts on what it is to be “human.”

Then explore the Institute and try related games and crafts make this an event for all ages! Build a circuit, challenge a robotic “hexbug” with a maze of your making and more. Fun for all ages, these activities introduce our visitors to basic engineering principles behind our robotic pals.

Free with museum admission and includes daily talks on robots and pop culture at 1:30 and 2:30pm each day of the event.